Dark Season: The Complete Third Series (All 8 books) (43 page)

"He doesn't control me," she replies, but the pain is evident in her eyes. She's lost and alone, and she's latched on to the one person who offers her any kind of structure and hope.

"Where's Shelley?" I ask, glancing over at the door to make sure no-one's listening to our conversation. "You have to get out of here, and go find Shelley".

She shakes her head. "This is where I belong right now. You were one of the ones who came and got me in Callerton. You helped Benjamin bring me here. If Benjamin's so bad, why did you work for him?"
"Because I didn't understand how dangerous he can be," I say, trying to get her to understand. "I let him talk me into doing things I should never have done. I killed people for him. I did his dirty work". Once again, I attempt to sit up, but this time the effort causes a sharp pain to jolt through my body. Exhausted, I collapse back on the bed.

"You're in no fit state to be moving," Abby says calmly. "You need to rest".

"I need to get you out of here!" I insist. "Abby, you're in danger. I know you're scared of being alone, and you're scared of your father, but this isn't the place for you".

"You don't know what I'm scared of," she says, with a hint of anger in her voice. "You might be my uncle, but you don't
know
me, and you have no idea what I want. I'm old enough to make my own choices, and right now that means being here and working with Benjamin. I can't just go out into the world and sit around brooding like some kind of gargoyle. Right now, this place is... home".

I stare at her. "Then you need a better home. Wait until I've started to heal up, and we'll get out of here together. We'll go and find Shelley. She and I can look after you. You can be free without being alone".

She shakes her head.

"Abby, you have to get out of here!" I insist. "Look at me! This is Benjamin's fault! It's not safe for either of us, but at least you can run. He's dangerous. I don't even know why he bothered to..." I pause, suddenly realizing that I have no idea why I'm still alive. Something about this whole situation doesn't make sense. If Benjamin wanted me dead, why would he go to all the trouble of saving me, bringing me here and nursing me back to health? A cold chill spreads through my body as I realize that there's a very dark look in Abby's eyes, almost as if she's struggling with some great inner demon. "You have to run," I say to her, but I know in my heart of hearts that everything I say is going to fall on deaf ears. I have a horrible feeling that Abby already knows what she's going to do.

"I'm not running any more," she says, looking over at the blank white wall. "I tried running, and it didn't work".

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," I say, hoping I can find some way to get through to her.

"Benjamin says that..." She takes a deep breath, before turning to look at me again. "Benjamin says that sometimes it's necessary to..." Her eyes are filled with tears.

"Necessary to what?" I ask, but I think I already know the answer. "Necessary to remove people who are a threat?"

She nods.

"And necessary to prove your loyalty?"

She nods again, her bottom lip trembling.

"You
really
don't have to do this," I say, my heart pounding. "You still have a choice. You've already rejected Patrick. Don't make the mistake of letting someone else control you".

She stares at me, saying nothing.

"I don't..." I pause, trying not to panic. "Abby, I don't want to die," I say finally. "Not here, not now. Not because of Benjamin. We're family". I reach out and put a hand on her arm. "I'm the only family you've got".

"That's not true," she says, her voice trembling. "Benjamin and the Watchers are my family now. They're more like a real family than anyone else".

"That's not true," I say. "It's what Benjamin wants you to think but it's not true at all. Don't you see how he's tricking you?"

She closes her eyes, but the tears keep rolling down her cheeks.

"How can you trust him?" I ask. "How can you trust someone who tells you to kill your own flesh and blood?" I wait for her to answer, but she just sits there with her eyes closed. "If you do this," I say finally, "you're no better than Patrick. In fact, you're worse. At least he makes his own decisions".

Slowly, she opens her eyes. The tears have stopped, and there's real anger in her expression. "Benjamin told me you'd say something like that," she says. "He told me you'd try to manipulate me by playing on my fear of becoming like my father". She moves closer to my face. "He warned me not to listen to you". She opens her mouth wide, and I see her two razor-sharp, glistening white fangs.

"I don't want to die," I say firmly, trying to stay calm. "Please, Abby, I don't want to die. Not here, not like this -"

She lunges for my neck and I feel the two fangs slice through the flesh. The pain is intense as I feel her slowly sucking the blood from my body; reaching out, I grab hold of her shoulders and try to push her away, but she's too strong and there's nothing I can do. Finally, in an act of desperation, I try to punch her, but I'm starting to get weaker and weaker. As she continues to feed, I can feel her hot breath against my skin, and it feels as if she's getting warmer and warmer while I'm getting more and more cold. It's too late to stop her, though. It's too late to do anything. I close my eyes and wait for the final moment. Determined not to scream, I hold my breath and wait for my life to ebb away; when death comes, though, it's more like a sudden stop and a plunge into nothingness.

Epilogue

Sitting at my desk, I stare at the opposite wall and wait for her to return. People often ask me why I have no pictures of decorations in my office, but the truth is simple: I like large, open surfaces into which I can gaze and lose my thoughts. I spend so much of my time dealing with people and problems, it's a rare luxury to sit and feel as if the world's problems are drifting away from me. These moments are vital and, as I stare at the large white wall, I find myself becoming less and less aware of everything else in the room until - finally - it's as if the whole world is blank and white.

"I did it," says a voice nearby.

Turning to look at the doorway, I see that Abby is back. There's blood on her chin, and she looks a little dazed.

"Sit down," I say. "Please".

She walks slowly over to the chair on the other side of my desk, before taking a seat and waiting for me to say something.

"How was your first taste of live human blood?" I ask.

She stares at me for a moment. "It felt good," she says eventually.

"I'm glad," I say, smiling. "You mustn't feel bad. It's part of the natural order. You need blood to survive. You're an animal, just as we humans are animals. All animals do what they must, in order to survive. You can't fight nature".

"I think it hurt him," she says. "I thought it'd be quick and painless, but I think he was alive for a couple of minutes after I started to..." She pauses. "Benjamin... Is that normal?"

"I don't know," I reply. "Abigail, you're something completely new. As far as I can tell, you're the first successful offspring to be born of one human parent and one vampire. Other attempts have tended to fail. With you, we're entering new territory and we must be careful not to rule things in or out based on our expectations. There has never been anyone like you in the past, but I can assure you that your kind will have a long and prosperous future". I smile. It's hard to believe that this unassuming young lady is so important. "You do realize," I continue, "that in a few days, Patrick will be dead and
you
will be the only vampire left in existence".

She nods.

"I'm not even sure if we should
call
you a vampire, though," I say. "Perhaps we should come up with a new word to describe what you are".

"Vampire's fine," she replies. "It kind of seems to fit".

"We'll see," I say. "For now, you should probably rest. We're setting off tomorrow on a very important journey".

"Where are we going?" she asks.

"Somewhere rather exciting," I tell her. "Somewhere I'm sure you've never been before. I'm going to take you to visit an old friend". I pause for a moment. "We're going to deliver a message".

Book 7:

A Woman, Waiting

Prologue

Dedston, Many years ago.

"Shelley!" shouts Mrs. Hardstone. "Shelley, where are you? Get back here right now!"

Running between the trees, I try to put more and more distance between myself and that bitch of a teacher. Just because I'm nine years old, doesn't mean I have to run over to her when she calls. I get treated like a dog at home; I don't need it when I'm at school as well, and beside: this is recess, so I get to do what I want. If that means unlatching the gate and heading out into the forest, I don't see why it's any of Mrs. Hardstone's business. I'll be back by the time recess is over, pretty much.

"Shelley!" she shouts again, but this time her voice is much further away.

I stop running, smiling at the thought that I've managed to give her the slip. That was the easy part, though. Now comes the hard part. Stepping carefully through the forest, I listen out for the sound of Amanda and the other girls. They're older than me, and they go to the local high school so they're allowed out at lunch. I know they come into the forest and sit around talking, and I want to join them. I've even heard rumors that they know magic, and they perform spells and stuff like that. I want to see for myself, and I want to persuade them to let me take part. I might look like a kid, but I hate hanging out with people my own age; they're all idiots, and I want to hang out with the big girls. Once they see that I've snuck out from school, they
have
to let me be one of them.

"Shelley!" Mrs. Hardstone calls out. She doesn't sound like she's getting any closer, but I still don't want her to scare Angela and the others away.

It takes me a few minutes to find any sign of other people in the forest, but eventually I hear a distant chatter. Making my way cautiously in the direction of the noise, I eventually spot five girls sitting in a circle on the forest floor. I pause behind a tree, peering out and seeing that Amanda and her friends are holding these little white cards. Amanda is talking, and the others are kinda keeping their eyes closed and listening. I don't know what witches look like, but they definitely seem to be doing
something
weird. I take a few steps forward and hide behind a closer tree, and finally I can just about make out what they're saying.

"This one's all silver," Amanda tells her friends. "It's good for scaring away werewolves. This one's gold, it's lethal to older spirits so if you ever come across Sog-Yothoth, this is the one to use. Remember this stuff. It might save your lives one day".

I creep closer and closer. They haven't noticed me yet, which is good. I want them to be impressed when they finally realize that I've managed to find them. They're probably gonna assume I'm a stupid kid, but I'm not. Just because I'm only nine, doesn't mean I'm too young to hang out with them. Amanda's fifteen or sixteen, but that's only six years older than me. Anyway, I'm way older inside. All the other girls at school are into dolls and stupid games, and they hate me because they know I'm different. I need to hang out with people who are older; they'll understand me better, and they'll accept me for who I am.

"All this stuff is useless if you meet a vampire," Amanda continues. "Vampires can do what they want. There's nothing you can use to scare a vampire away. Vampires have gray skin and they're, like, eight feel tall and they have long, thin fingers and -"

"Shelley, what do you think you're doing!" Mrs. Hardstone shouts, grabbing the back of my collar.

"Shit!" I say, turning to look up at her.

"Don't you use that language!" she replies, staring down at me harshly before looking over at Amanda and the others. "You girls are from the high school! Amanda Hodgson, I know your mother and your principal! Are they aware that you're out here? What are you doing, anyway? Is this some kind of witchcraft?"

"Where did that fucking kid come from?" Amanda says, staring at me with a look of horror and disgust. She and her friends grab their stuff and run away through the forest.

"Didn't you hear me calling for you?" Mrs. Hardstone says, still holding me firmly by the collar as she leads me back through the forest. "Or did you just decide to ignore me? Did you think I was just out here shouting your name because I had nothing better to do?"

"I didn't hear you," I say quietly, my eyes filling with tears. I hate the way I always cry when I'm in trouble. It's like, I don't care what Mrs. Hardstone says, and I don't care that she's mad at me, but I have this annoying physical reaction to being told off. The tears just flood down my face, making me look like some kind of fucking idiot. If I could just stop crying all the time, I'd feel much better.

"You didn't hear me calling after you?" she asks. "Don't lie to me, Shelley. I know perfectly well that you heard me. You're not deaf, are you? You just wanted to get away with doing whatever you were doing. There's a reason children aren't allowed out here alone. This forest isn't safe".

"I'm not a child," I reply, my lower lip trembling as she continues to march me back to school. "You're walking too fast," I whimper, stumbling over the rough forest floor.